Exploring the highlights of Forrester Wave™: Microsegmentation Solutions, Q3 2024 and Cisco's leadership.
In an era where cybersecurity threats are rapidly evolving, microsegmentation has emerged as a critical pillar in defending modern IT environments. The latest Forrester Wave™: Microsegmentation Solutions, Q3 2024 report underscores the importance of selecting the right provider to stay ahead in the security landscape. With the evaluation of 11 vendors across 23 criteria, Forrester has once again shed light on how organisations can implement Zero Trust principles through microsegmentation.
At Unifi, a managed services provider and a proud Cisco partner, this report reinforces our strategic direction and assists in ensuring we offer the best advice to our business customers on how to best protect their network infrastructure. Unifi’s philosophy is to build our managed services based on the leading technology available.
The evolution of microsegmentation.
As highlighted in the Forrester report, we’re living in the “golden age” of microsegmentation. This once data centre-focused solution has now expanded across a multitude of environments, including microservices, public cloud, and operational technology (OT). Today’s advanced solutions offer granular security control down to layer seven, integrating user and process identity into policy enforcement. These solutions are instrumental in reducing the blast radius of cyberattacks like ransomware, making it harder for malicious actors to spread laterally within networks.
For businesses looking to bolster their security, microsegmentation solutions now offer faster time-to-value, flexible deployment, and sophisticated integrations that minimise the need for complex software installs. Innovations in threat detection, policy enforcement, and AI-powered automation have transformed how microsegmentation operates, making it a must-have for organisations with complex security needs.
Why Cisco stands out.
Forrester named Cisco as a leader in its 2024 Microsegmentation Solutions Wave, highlighting Cisco’s strengths in delivering a unified security solution for data centres, public clouds, and microservices environments.
Cisco’s Secure Workload platform stood out in the report for its:
- Unified Approach: Cisco offers comprehensive microsegmentation from bare metal to cloud, simplifying security management across different environments. This is a game-changer for companies seeking a unified view of their assets and policies, especially in hybrid and multicloud environments.
- Cutting-Edge Features: Forrester praised Cisco’s roadmap, which includes innovative integrations such as eBPF and data processing units (DPUs). These features enable deeper inspection and faster policy enforcement at the workload level, making Cisco’s offering both robust and future-proof.
- Immediate Threat Mitigation: Cisco’s microsegmentation solutions allow customers to quickly deploy policies that reduce the threat surface—without waiting for complex learning models to fully understand the network. This “block now, analyse later” approach can quickly halt potential security breaches, providing peace of mind to security teams.
How Cisco's innovation drives results.
Cisco’s Secure Workload microsegments networks without the need for a patchwork of tools. The platform integrates with a wide array of security and network infrastructure—including Cisco’s switches, firewalls, and cloud providers—ensuring comprehensive visibility and faster threat detection. By applying AI and machine learning, Cisco enables customers to observe workload patterns, detect anomalies, and automate responses.
Some key innovations and acquisitions contributing to Cisco’s dominance include:
- Kenna acquisition: Offers advanced vulnerability scanning and risk prioritisation.
- Valtix acquisition: Strengthens multicloud security.
- Armorblox acquisition: Brings AI-native management capabilities for enhanced security control.
These innovations ensure that Cisco’s solutions are not only cutting-edge but also aligned with the complex needs of today’s businesses.
Why it matters for Unifi customers.
As a Cisco partner, Unifi is well-positioned to help our customers leverage Cisco’s Secure Workload platform to meet their microsegmentation needs. Whether you’re looking to secure hybrid environments, microservices, or operational technology, based on Cisco’s solutions, Unifi’s Managed Security services provide unparalleled visibility and security control.
By working with Unifi, you can take advantage of an integrated approach to network security—securing everything from the Cisco switch down to the process level. Our team can help you implement a microsegmentation strategy that’s tailored to your organisation’s unique needs, ensuring you stay ahead of potential threats while simplifying your security operations.
Explore how Unifi can transform your security posture with industry-leading microsegmentation solutions. Contact us today for a consultation!